Africa powers mobile money to $2-trillion milestone

Global mobile money transactions surpassed $2 trillion in 2025, doubling in just four years, according to the GSMA's State of the Industry Report. Registered accounts reached 2.3 billion globally, with Sub-Saharan Africa driving most new account growth. Despite the milestone, challenges persist: 75% of registered accounts remain inactive monthly, a gender gap in usage continues, and cross-border data regulations hinder some providers. MTN's MoMo platform alone processed over $500 billion in transactions — roughly a quarter of the global total — with 69.5 million monthly active users. Mobile money is also expanding beyond payments into insurance, credit, and savings products.